We came, we saw, we conquered. Well….we turned up, not exactly sure how it would turn out, we interacted with some fantastic people and, after everyone had gone home, we felt that it had worked out pretty well. I say “we” as my son, Sam, worked with me. Together we demonstrated a few of the many faces of food photography. Our styles are sometimes diametrically opposed but they have the same goal which is to create striking images that make food look delicious.
Being able to run the courses from a professional studio added another dimension to the conception of a Workshop. Not only were our clients immersed in the studio atmosphere but they were also able to benefit from the huge range of props and equipment that are the day to day currency in a professional studio. Above all, we had the support and help of two of the best food stylists in London….Cara Hobday (carahobday.com) and Olia Hercules (oliahercules.com)
The subject matter for each day centred on very different sets of recipes. Each day began with a talk about food photography and the particular aims of a blogger as opposed to the disciplines of commissioned work. To demonstrate the differences of these two forms of photography, Sam and I each produced a master class on a single recipe, showing our individual styles of photography followed by our personal methods of capture and post production. The latter section turned out to be a demonstration of our preferences for either Photoshop or Capture One. The food we photographed ranged from a fried breakfast to a simple green salad, passing by Ottolenghi’s Fennel and Seafood Stew, creme brulée and an exotic fruit salad….not forgetting Sam’s limoncello set up. The gallery below shows some examples of the work created by our clients.
All that remains for us is to thank our clients for making our Workshops such fun and so successful. We’re in the process of sorting out new dates for the next Workshop.
Food, Photography & France 
Some great images – thanks for sharing.
Cheers, Vicki:)
Wow gorgeous images created! sounds like a fantastic worksop. Some day over the rainbow…..
Who knows…it’d be great to see you there:)
Keeping an eye on those dates. Would love to do this.
I’m hoping to fix an Autumn date between 10 and 20 October:)
Roger, thanks for a wonderful day. I really enjoyed myself and loved the chemistry between the participants, and that between Sam and your good self. Thank you.
So good to see you, James. I hope Candice got something from it…it was nice to meet her.
That looks and sounds great, and tremendous – if hard-working – fun all round.
It worked wonderfully well, Margaret. Can’t wait to do the next one:)
I bet those are the easiest type of clients to work with too 😉
Such nice people…it was a complete pleasure:)
It was a great day Roger. And particularly great to see how Sam and yourself work and your different approaches and techniques.
So glad that you enjoyed it, Emma:)
Looks like it was wonderful for everyone!
It was far beyond my expectations….we had an excellent time:)
Looks like a great workshop! Thanks for sharing. Would love to see some posts on your differant approaches.
I’ll try and get something together on that.
Congratulations on the successful workshop, Roger! That photo with the with the lemon? Phenomenal!
That’s Sam’s picture…he’s pretty good isn’t he:)
Without question, Roger! He obviously had a great teacher.
🙂
What, you don’t just stick the camera on automatic, point and shoot?!!! That must be my mistake. 😉
It just might be:)
I am no culinary expert, nor even a moderate subject follower outside of really liking to eat, but it’s been great fun to be introduced via your blog to this side of all good things food. Really enjoy the way you present your passion for this subject.
Thanks for that very generous compliment…
Congratulations to you and your clients… the images are excellent. In particular, I can’t stop looking at the egg in the frying pan. Simple but stunning.
It’s interesting hearing which of the images each person prefers…
My favorite shot is the one of you and Sam.
I’d love to do one of these someday. I’m a middling photographer, but I would enjoy the social nature of a workshop like this. Not to mention the food. Oh, can we eat the food? Or is it a prop? I once ate a prop in a play, and the stage manager never forgave me.
On my shoots, the food is always for eating. I think you’d enjoy the Workshops…we have a lot of fun:)
these are some stunning images. kudos to you!
Cheers:)
Wow, fabulous shots. So wish I could have been there.
…that would have been excellent…maybe one day.
Thank you so much for allowing us into the studio too! Wonderfully exciting!!! Don’t mean to copy EllaDee but I looked at that egg in the pan for a long time also 🙂 !
We have excellent taste 🙂
🙂
Hi I follow your blog because I love food photography and was referred by “Cooking in sens”. I see you are very good at what you do and was wondering if you could please give me some tips on perfecting the art. Thanks
Thanks for visiting and following me. I’d be very happy to answer some of your questions:)
Please what camera is best for shooting food?
Look for a Canon or a Nikon DSLR…there’s a huge range to suit all budgets….then you need a good lens that will take close up pictures. The lenses that I would recommend are the 50mm, 100mm or 105mm…they should be Macro lenses and as fast as possible ( look for f 1.8, or a similar small f number, in the description. The small f number indicates that the lens can work in low light and will have a very small, selective focus which is perfect for food photography. The smaller the number the more expensive the lens will be.
Wow this is good information, i will definately run with this. Please I would also like to know what software is best for editing pictures, I presently use “Picasa” I hear people talk about “Photoshop” but what do you suggest?
Try Photoshop Elements 11 or Capture One. Both are very good programs and at a reasonable price. It will take some time to learn how to use them but there are very good on line video tutorials to help you get started and to sort out problems. Good luck:)
Thanks
🙂
Hi again, I am writing a cookbook and want to take the pictures of the food myself so I was wondering if the DSLR camera and photoshop elements 11 software will be good for it. Also I have a load of questions concerning the book like: what tips do I have to adhere to for taking “cookbook” pictures; food styling for cookbook pictures and illustrations; must i use an official photographer or can i just DIY? Sorry I know the questions are alot to bother you with so if you cant answer them, please can you reccommend a site where I can get this answers. Thanks
Fabulous shots.
I was so impressed with their work…
I could do with this class. I just need to keep practising I guess. 🙂 Lovely photos as usual.
Cheers,guys….:)
Would love to take this class. I couldn’t help but notice the window with the beautiful soft light coming in, perfect for photographing food. I shoot 80% of my food shots beside such a window in my kitchen. Love the photo portrait of you and your son (I presume) at the top of the post. I’m in the middle of nowhere but am embarking on an online photography course starting next week. Hoping to improve! Thank you for inspiring.
I too live in the middle of nowhere and I now work in the same way as you…by the window in my kitchen. Funnily enough a small window is better than a huge window for food photography. Good luck with the on line course….and, yes, it is my son:)
Roger, this looks really exciting. It was great to see a snatch of you in action – all the best to you and Sam as the workshops gather momentum. As I have absolutely no doubt they will.
Many thanks, Kate…:)
What an interesting experience your workshop had to be, especially from a father and son team with some differing perspectives. I’m sure the two of you enjoyed working side by side.
We’re pretty used to it as Sam came to work as my assistant directly from school…which is quite a long while ago! He’s his own man now, so it was reassuring to find that we could both still work together harmoniously…:)
We were recently in Spain on a Foodie Adventure and the return trip back was through London on May 2 which means it would have been very easy to take your May 3 workshop. If only I had paid attention to the flight path the hubby had chosen…….I was heartsick at being so close and missing the opportunity to learn from you.
What a shame….that would have been great. I’m hoping to have fix a date for a weekend Workshop in the first three weeks of October which I’ll be announcing soon. Hope the Food Adventure was good:)